STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT I Course Description and Objectives Strategic management is about running the total business enterprise. It seeks to understand the challenges and the environment in which the business operates, the direction the management intends to head, the strategic plans to for getting the enterprise moving in the intended direction and the tasks of implementing the chosen strategy successfully. This course aims to equip you with the core concepts, frameworks, and techniques of strategic management, which will allow you to understand what managers must do to make an organization be it a for-profit or a non-profit one to achieve superior performance. Rather than focusing narrowly on a particular function of an enterprise, we will build on what you have learnt in other business courses and try to put the pieces together throughout this big-picture course. To achieve these purposes, the course will evolve around a theoretical and a practical base simultaneously. While the theoretical part concentrates upon the fundamental factors that determine business success, the practical part is all about acquiring deep insights into the determinants of business success from specific cases. The participants of this course, hence, are expected to wear a bird s-eye-view glass and yet pay intent attention to both the theoretical and practical parts of the course. Course Content and Outline Various components of strategic management, such as tools of strategy analysis, sources of competitive advantage, strategies in different industry contents and the fundamentals of corporate strategy are to be discussed throughout the course. The breakdown of the basic structure is as follows: 1. Introduction 1
2. Strategic Management Concepts 3. Industry Analysis: An Overview of the External Environment and the Internal Environment, Competitive Positioning via Cost Leadership versus Differentiation, Value Chain Analysis 4. Game Theory Approach to Competitive Dynamics 5. Business Strategies in Different Industry Contexts: Technology-Based versus Mature Industries 6. Corporate-Level Strategy: Scope of the Firm and Vertical Integration, Multinational Corporations. Diversification 7. Current Trends and New Challenges in Strategic Management 8. Wrap-up Materials Recommended text book Grant, R.M. (2005) Contemporary Strategy Analysis, 5 th ed., Blackwell Publishing Hitt, M., Ireland, D., Hoskisson, R. (2004) Competitive Startegy: Competitiveness and Globalization, 6 th ed., Cengage Learning. The course material is accompanied by the teaching cases, which will be used to understand how the topics that we are reviewing affect real-world problems. Course Delivery The classes will be delivered through presentations. Following the completion of the discussion of main concepts, one/two sessions will be devoted to a case analysis. The purpose of the chosen cases is not to cover all the issues covered in class, but to illustrate how various strategic management concepts shape the decisions on realworld problems. Attendance And Participation: Experience shows that the student s success in this course highly correlated with regular attendance. Therefore, I recommend you to attend all class sessions, and, when applicable, to catch up with the class(es) missed before the next session. Students are responsible for any assignment announced in class and/or through Aula. Students are also expected to be prepared and participate actively in class discussions. Therefore, for each class session, you should familiarize yourself with the 2
topics covered in the relevant chapters of the suggested textbooks or with the cases to be discussed in class. Assignments, Case Reports and Quizzes: Students will be asked to hand in brief case analyses before or after the case discussion takes place in class. Potential issues one may raise in a case report are: the main problem of the case, the alternative ways to approach it, a discussion of the exhibits or any matter that you may find interesting in the case. You may also provide suggestive solutions. Your response is to be prepared prior to class to provide evidence that you were ready for the case analysis that day. The emphasis here is on EFFORT and not result. Working toward the correct answer is not the point; working to understand the case and the underlying issues is what it s all about. The grading of the case write-ups will be based on how far the student goes beyond providing the basic facts of the case. Additionally, I reserve the right to give quizzes at any time, without prior notice. No make-up quizzes will be given in case of absence or bad performance. 3
TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE 2008-2009 (Group I) 23.09.2008 Case: CORAL DIVERS RESORT (REVISED) 30.09.2008 Reading: GOOGLE INC. 07.10.2008 Case: WALMART INC. 14.10.2008 Competitive Positioning Through Differentiation 21.10.2008 Case: KODAK AND THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION 28.10.2008 Case: APPLE (2008) cont d Mature Industries 04.11.2008 Corporate Strategy II: Diversification 11.11.2008 Case: WAL-MART STORES: Every Day Low Prices In China 18.11.2008 Back-up Session Course Overview: What is Strategy? 25.09.2008 Competitive Dynamics: Game Theory Approach 02.10.2008 Analyzing Resources and Capabilities 09.10.2008 Competitive Positioning Through Cost Leadership 16.10.2008 Case: NEW CENTURY BREWING 23.10.2008 Innovation & Competitiveness: Technology Based Industries 30.10.2008 Corporate Strategy I: Vertical Integration/Scope of the Firm 06.11.2008 Corporate Strategy III: Mergers and Acquisitions 13.11.2008 Current Challanges in Strategic Management 20.11.2008 Industry Analysis Porter s Five Forces 26.09.2008 Competitive Dynamics: Game Theory Approach II 03.10.2008 Nature and Sources of Competitive Advantage 10.10.2008 Case: HONDA (A) 17.10.2008 Industry Evolution 24.10.2008 Case: APPLE 2008 31.10.2008 Case: ARAUCO (A): 07.11.2008 International Strategy 14.11.2008 Case: PROJECT IMPACT 21.11.2008 25.11.2008 27.11.2008 28.11.2008 WRAP-UP 02.12.2008 4
TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE 2008-2009 (Group II) 23.09.2008 24.09.2008 Industry Analysis Porter s Five Forces 30.09.2008 Competitive Dynamics: Game Theory Approach II 07.10.2008 Nature and Sources of Competitive Advantage 14.10.2008 Case: HONDA (A) 21.10.2008 Industry Evolution 28.10.2008 Case: APPLE 2008 04.11.2008 Case: ARAUCO (A): 11.11.2008 International Strategy 18.11.2008 Case: PROJECT IMPACT Case: CORAL DIVERS RESORT (REVISED) 01.10.2008 Reading: GOOGLE INC. 08.10.2008 Case: WALMART INC. 15.10.2008 Competitive Positioning Through Differentiation 22.10.2008 Case: KODAK & DIGITAL REVOLUTION 29.10.2008 Case: APPLE (2008) cont d Mature Industries 05.11.2008 Corporate Strategy II: Diversification 12.11.2008 Case: WAL-MART STORES: Every Day Low Prices In China 19.11.2008 Back-up Session Course Overview: What is Strategy? 25.09.2008 Competitive Dynamics: Game Theory Approach 02.10.2008 Analyzing Resources and Capabilities 09.10.2008 Competitive Positioning Through Cost Leadership 16.10.2008 Case: NEW CENTURY BREWING 23.10.2008 Innovation & Competitiveness: Technology Based Industries 30.10.2008 Corporate Strategy I: Vertical Integration/Scope of the Firm 06.11.2008 Corporate Strategy III: Mergers and Acquisitions 13.11.2008 Current Challanges in Strategic Management 20.11.2008 24.11.2008 25.11.2008 26.11.2008 02.12.2008 WRAP-UP 03.12.2008 5
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT GRADING POLICY The course is graded from 0 to 10 points. Passing the course necessitates a minimum grade of 4.0 point obtained in the final exam AND an average grade of 5.0 points in total. Evaluation at the ordinary term At the ordinary term, the final grade for the course will be determined on the following basis: Class Participation, quizzes, and assignments 25% Final report and its presentation* 25% Final exam 50% (*) Specifications on the final report will be given when the course begins. Evaluation in September For students retaking the exam in September, the grading basis will be as follows: Class participation, quizzes and assignments 10% Final report and its presentation 10% September exam 80% Specifications on the Assignments 1. If two (or more) students (or groups) turn in same / very similar assignments or quizzes, both items will be graded as zero points. 2. If a student does not hand in any of the assignments throughout the course, he or she will receive zero points from the whole category of class participation, quizzes and assignments in the ordinary period (25%), and zero points from the whole category of participation, quizzes and assignments in the September exam (10%). 6